Survival Fitness builds strength, community for breast cancer survivors
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NEW ULM, Minn. (KEYC) — In New Ulm, women who are navigating a life changed by breast cancer are creating a community.
At CrossFit on the north side of New Ulm, eight women know all too well what breast cancer does to a body.
“We’re left wrecked,” said Fitness Survivor member Sara Schultz.
For these survivors of chemo, surgery, and stress — their fight continues.
This session: plenty of strength training and work restoring balance. Doctors’ orders for survivors: 7,000-10,000 steps a day.
“We make those recommendations without any landing area,” said Dr. Cori Jordan who created the Survivor Fitness program for her patients to get strength training, yoga, and a support group all in one ultimate safe space, “It’s an opportunity for these women to take the power back from cancer. You can leave your wig at the door! No one’s looking at your bald head. No one’s looking at your surgical differences.”
Credit: Liz Jabson Tree
She found that after she finished treatment, she needed someone to take the reins on her fitness journey and make sure she didn't hurt herself and push herself too hard.
“I have enough knowledge to know how to do the things I want to do physically, but I don't necessarily have enough restraint," Jabson Tree said.
She also works as a nurse in oncology and vows to tell her patients about Survivor Fitness because she has had such positive results.
Karen Easter was diagnosed with triple-positive and triple-negative breast cancer in 2018 after a total knee replacement. The doctors found it during a mammogram, and she prayed for weeks that she would be okay.